Memorial panel looks at tribute fountain

Nanci G. Hutson

Published 12:00 am, Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Lisa Barrett, a South Glastonbury multi-media artist hugs a piece of quartz that she will incorporate into her vision for a tribute to the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The tribute has emerged into a five-foot tall foundation with water, flowers and butterflies on a quartz base. Barrett presented her proposal to the Permanent Memorial Commission on July 10.
Photo: Contributed Photo

Her tribute is a quartz-based "vanishing" fountain. It stands about 5 feet tall with six metallic irises and 20 cone flowers surrounded by 26 butterflies glazed in a four-coat finish with gold elements. The fountain would stand in a landscaped area with sidewalks and benches that donors have promised to maintain at no cost to the town.

But the commission is still collecting community input, including interviews with families of the victims, the Sandy Hook Elementary School student families and faculty, first responders and community groups. Barrett's is one of many artistic tributes offered to Newtown, and members were clear they are not yet ready to settle on a particular memorial.

The commission has contacted other communities touched by tragedy for guidance on how to proceed with the selection process.

Commission Chairman Kyle Lyddy told Barrett they are still in the fact-gathering stages, and "if and when" decisions are made, he will be in contact. Any proposal accepted must go through a formal town permitting process that includes zoning.

Since the Dec. 14, 2012, shootings, the town and the Cultural Arts Commission have received hundreds of proposals and many have been forwarded to the memorial commission for consideration. The commission said it is working on a website, preparing a community question-and-answer sheet, continuing outreach to affected groups, brainstorming, narrowing options and considering sites for a permanent memorial.

Barrett said she appreciates the sensitive nature of this process, and is willing to work within those parameters. She said she would be honored, as would those who provided for the memorial to be built at virtually no cost, if the fountain is chosen.

Other memorials have cropped up on private property, including at two local churches. The town was given 26 benches, and Lyddy said he is contacting victims' families to learn if they want their loved ones' names or symbols engraved on them and taking recommendations for their locations.

If the fountain is not the chosen public piece, Barrett said she has other town groups interested in placing it as a private memorial.

"It will be part of Newtown/Sandy Hook," Barrett said. "It is just a matter of when and where."